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July 24, 2022

Three Ethical Investment Options For You to Consider

More and more people are looking to invest ethically nowadays. As well as wanting decent returns from their money, they wish to ensure it is being used for purposes that will benefit the planet and local communities too.

So today I thought I would spotlight three ethical investment opportunities of which I have some experience and/or knowledge. There is nothing particularly scientific about this and I am certainly not saying these are the ‘best’ such opportunities. But based on my personal experience and feedback from colleagues and PAS readers, I am happy that they merit the ‘ethical’ description and are well-established and reputable.

Nutmeg Socially Responsible Portfolios

Regular readers of PAS will know that I am a fan of the robo-adviser platform Nutmeg and have a fairly substantial ISA investment with them.

As you probably know, an ISA is a tax-free wrapper that can be used for a range of investments. Every year you get an annual ISA allowance, which is currently £20,000. If you exceed your annual allowance (or invest it elsewhere) you can still invest in an ordinary Nutmeg account, which will be subject to taxation as usual.

Socially Responsible is an option you can choose for your Nutmeg portfolio (or one of them – you can have several). Your money is then invested in a managed, diversified fund which focuses on the environment, social values and good governance (ESG for short).

Nutmeg invest in exchange traded funds (or ETFs) that avoid companies engaged in controversial activities, while focusing on those that lead their peers on ESG. The screen capture below, taken from the Nutmeg site, shows the sort of things that are covered under ESG criteria.

As with all Nutmeg accounts, you can set your preferred risk level on a scale of 1-10 (you might like to check out this article in which I reveal why choosing a very low risk level when investing for the long term may not be the best idea).

There are, of course, management and other fees to pay. For Socially Responsible portfolios these fees are slightly higher than the standard Fully Managed portfolios, but still moderate overall. Example costs for a £5,000 portfolio are shown below. On the Nutmeg website [affiliate link] you can enter any amount and see the likely fees you would be charged over a year.

You might wonder if choosing the Socially Responsible option means sacrificing performance, but Nutmeg say this is not the case. Since they started offering this option, performance has been roughly the same as their Fully Managed portfolios. Of course, the fact that charges are slightly higher means you may make a little less profit overall, but even so the difference should only be marginal.

For more information about Nutmeg, you may like to check out my in-depth review, which includes details of how my Fully Managed Nutmeg portfolio has performed since I opened it six years ago.

Assetz Exchange

Assetz Exchange is not an equities-based platform. Rather, it is a P2P property platform. I have been investing with Assetz Exchange since January last year and have gradually built up the amount I have with them (see below).

Assetz Exchange focuses on lower-risk properties, such as supported housing for people with learning difficulties or physical disabilities. Properties are bought jointly by investors under the usual crowdfunding/P2P model. Most are then leased to charities and housing associations. This means they are securely funded and there is a low risk of defaults.

Of course, defaults could still happen in certain circumstances – but as investors jointly own the property in question, ultimately you could still expect to get your capital (or most of it) back when the property is sold.

Although AE does also list some other types of property (e.g. show homes for new housing developments), you can of course choose which properties you wish to invest in. You could choose entirely charity/housing association projects – such as the one below – if you like.

I put an initial £100 into AE in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. In June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment up to £1,000. Since I opened my account, my AE portfolio has generated £65.52 in revenue from rental and £70.97 in net capital growth, a total of £136.49. That’s a decent rate of return on my £1,000 (staged) investment and does illustrate the value of P2P property investment for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile (as at the moment).

I now have investments in 23 different projects and all are performing as expected, generating rental income and – in all but two cases – showing a profit on capital. So I am very happy with how this investment has been doing, and the fact that projects are generally beneficial to society as well.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as I am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

My investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate].

Abundance

Abundance is a well-established investment platform (launched 2012) for green energy projects. Cards on the table, I haven’t invested directly through them myself, but I do have friends and colleagues who have done so with good results.

Abundance offers peer-to-peer lending for green infrastructure projects to help combat climate change. You can invest in projects operated by businesses and also projects run by local councils. Business projects tend to be riskier but offer higher potential returns.

When I checked just now, there were two council projects offering annual returns of around 2% and three business projects offering returns of up to 9%. An example of the latter is Carbon Plantations, a project to fund new sustainable hardwood trees that capture more carbon and help regenerate farmland. This project was offering a return of 8% a year over a ten-year period.

One thing which put me off Abundance in the past is that the investments are typically quite illiquid. You were locked into an investment of (typically) 5 to 10 years, with interest paid annually (or more often) but no way of getting your capital back until the end of the investment period. In common with other P2P platforms, however, they now have a secondary market where investments can be bought and sold by members. Of course, there is no guarantee that anyone else will want to buy your investment if you need to sell up early or what price you will get for it.

On the plus side, if you want your money to be used for green, ethical purposes, Abundance certainly ticks that box. I also like the fact that there is a low minimum investment of just £5. There are no hidden fees, and you can invest tax-free within an IFISA if you like. As with all investments, money is at risk, and I highly recommend diversifying across a range of platforms and projects.

For more information about Abundance, do check out their website [non-affiliate link].

Closing Thoughts

In this article I have set out three different ethical investment opportunities for your consideration. While there are never any guarantees, if investing ethically is a priority for you, in my view they are all worth checking out.

As I always say, I am not a registered financial adviser and nothing in this post should be construed as personal financial advice. You should always do your own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

Note: Articles on Pounds and Sense may include affiliate links. If you click through these and make a purchase (or perform some other qualifying transaction) I may receive a fee for introducing you. This will not affect the price you pay or the terms you receive.

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July 9, 2022

My Short Break in Criccieth

Nick Everything Else travel, reviews 4 Comments

I recently returned from a three-night break in Criccieth. This is a village on the Llyn (or Lleyn) Peninsula in NW Wales. It was the first time I had stayed in Criccieth, although I have visited a few times before.

The place I stayed was a self-contained, self-catering apartment facing the sea-front. I booked it using the website Booking.com. I’ll say more about the accommodation below.

Criccieth is by the coast, roughly half way between Porthmadog (home of the Ffestiniog Railway) and Pwllheli (famed for its Butlins camp, now run by Haven Holidays). Here is a map of the area from Google Maps.

Accommodation

As mentioned, I stayed in a self-catering apartment in Criccieth. This was on the second floor, with a view of the sea from the kitchen/lounge. The owners’ name for the apartment is Foel Wen.

The main Criccieth beach was ten minutes’ walk away, but I was happy where I was. It was quiet, there was plenty of free parking on the road outside, and while it wasn’t the most stunning length of beach, there was a small promenade which was pleasant to walk along in the morning or evening. You can see a photo of the beach opposite my apartment below.

You can read more about the accommodation on this page of the Booking.com website. It had a lounge/kitchen at the front, a small bedroom with bunk beds in the middle (which I didn’t use) and the main bedroom at the rear. The bathroom was next to the small bedroom; it was quite compact but fine for a short stay. There was a good-quality modern electric shower but no bath.

The kitchen area was well equipped with an electric cooker, microwave, fridge/freezer, dishwasher, toaster, sink, and so on. On my first and last nights I cooked for myself (Criccieth isn’t exactly crammed with eating places) and on the middle night I got fish, chips and peas from a local takeaway, Castle Fish and Chips, which was excellent 🙂

The apartment had free wifi which worked perfectly during my stay (not always the case in my experience). The location was quiet and peaceful, and I slept very well.

Financials

As Pounds and Sense is primarily a money blog, I should say a word about this.

I paid £355 for my three-night stay, which works out to around £118 per day. I thought that was very reasonable bearing in mind the high standard of the accommodation and the convenience of the location. Obviously as this was self-catering no meals were included, but there was more space and better facilities than you would get in a comparable hotel or B&B.

Things to Do

I won’t give you a blow-by-blow account of what I did while I was there, but here are a few highlights.

Portmeirion

This is about 15 minutes’ drive from Criccieth (or a short train journey to Minffordd and a ten-minute walk). I spent my first morning here.

Portmeirion is a beautiful Italianate village created by the architect Clough Williams Ellis. These days it is probably best known as the location for the 1960s cult TV series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan. It is a wonderful place to while away a few hours.

There is an admission fee to get into Portmeirion, At the time of writing (July 2022) this is as follows:

Adult £17.00
Concessions £13.50 (this applies to anyone aged 60+ or a student with a valid student ID)
Children £10.00 (5-15 years)
Children (under 5 years) Free

There are also discounted family tickets for various permutations of adults and children.

You can also get free admission (in the afternoon) by booking a minimum two-course lunch at Castell Deudraeth; this is part of the Portmeirion estate, a short walk from the village itself. Free admission to the village is also available if you book a spa treatment or afternoon cream tea there.

More information is available on the Portmeirion website. One thing you may need to know is that they don’t allow dogs (other than guide dogs) into the grounds.

Ffestiniog Railway

This heritage steam railway has two separate lines, both of which run from Porthmadog.

The Welsh Highland Railway takes you on a scenic two-and-a-quarter hour trip through the heart of Snowdonia to Caernarfon, while the original Ffestiniog Railway takes you on a one-hour trip to Blaenau Ffestiniog. On this occasion I took the shorter journey, but I have done the Welsh Highland Railway trip before and highly recommend it as well. You can get more info on both (and book in advance) via the Ffestiniog Railway website.

The harbour station in Porthmadog has a small car park which quickly gets full, but there is a free car park for people travelling on the railway at the back of the public car park opposite (Llyn Bach). I used that myself on this occasion. There were plenty of spaces when I arrived at around 10 a.m. but I noticed it was full later. So my top tip if going by car is to book a ticket on a morning train rather than leaving it until the afternoon!

You can also travel to Porthmadog via the mainline railway if you wish. This is on the beautiful Cambrian Coast line which runs from Pwllheli at one end to Aberdyfi (and beyond) at the other.

Criccieth Castle

My accommodation was literally five minutes walk from Criccieth Castle, so of course I had to pay it a visit.

The castle itself is a ruin but (as the photo shows) plenty of the walls are still standing. There is also a visitor centre where, as well as buying your ticket and guidebook, you can learn more about the history of the castle and see some relics that have been found there.

Arguably the best reason for visiting the castle, though, is the spectacular views. The photo below shows the main Criccieth beach. You can even see as far as Harlech Castle from here, although you might need binoculars!

Final Thoughts

As you may gather, I enjoyed my short break in Criccieth, and am happy to recommend both the village and the accommodation where I stayed for a short break.

Criccieth is a lovely place to relax and chill out. It has excellent road and rail connections, and – as mentioned above – there are also some high-quality tourist attractions nearby.

One thing I really enjoyed about this holiday was the number of casual conversations I struck up with other visitors, staff, locals and so on. This applied especially on my Ffestiniog Railway trip, where I ended up chatting with half the people in my carriage! I’d have to say it did help that only a small minority of people are nowadays wearing face-masks. That human contact is something I missed during the pandemic, and as a solo traveller especially it is great to be able to get back to chatting with strangers again 😀

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.

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June 13, 2022

Spotlight: eToro Trading and Investment Platform

Nick Investing reviews 6 Comments

[Updated 4 January 2023] Today I’m looking at eToro, a popular online trading and investment platform. I recently opened an account on eToro and started investing with them, partly in order to review their service.

eToro is a Israeli fintech company based in Cyprus. The company also has registered offices in the UK, US and Australia. It is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). That means if eToro were to go bust any deposits with them up to £85,000 would be protected. Of course, the FSCS doesn’t protect you if you lose money simply due to your investments performing poorly.

eToro is particularly known for its copy trading feature. This allows you to automatically copy any of various established traders on eToro and benefit from any profits they (hopefully) make. More about this later.

What Does eToro Offer?

eToro offers just one type of general trading account. Unlike other platforms such as Bestinvest, there is no option to set up UK tax-free accounts such as ISAs and SIPPs (Self-Invested Personal Pensions). That being said, there are still plenty of investment options available.

For starters, eToro lets you invest in over 2,000 different stocks and shares from the world’s leading exchanges including the UK and US. You can access major stocks, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Tesla, Barclays, Airbus, Microsoft and Adidas.

If you don’t want to pick and choose stocks yourself, you can also invest in ready-made, themed portfolios. Some examples include:

Diabetes Med – diabetes care stocks
MetaverseLife – invest in virtual worlds
Oil Worldwide – global oil industry
Utilities – public utility stocks
Renewable Energy – clean energy production
LatamEconomy – Latin American region

You can also trade over 50 different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and so on (eToro creates a crypto wallet for you for trading purposes). You can also buy and sell various indices (e.g. UK100) and commodities.

And for advanced traders with an appetite for risk, contracts for difference (CFDs) are available. Just be aware that these investments are leveraged, so you can lose a lot more than your original stake if a market moves against you.

What Are The Charges?

A big selling point for eToro is that they offer commission-free trading. This makes them especially attractive to active traders who buy and sell regularly.

Of course, eToro do have to make their money somehow, so other charges apply. It’s important to be aware of these. The main charges are listed below.

Withdrawal fees – any time you make a withdrawal from eToro, you are charged a withdrawal fee of $5 (about £4).
Inactivity fees – If you haven’t logged into your account for a year, you will be charged a monthly inactivity fee. Of course, this won’t apply to most people but is something to bear in mind if you are investing for the long term.
Currency conversion fees – You can deposit on eToro in pounds sterling, but the platform operates in US dollars only and currency conversion fees apply. UPDATE: If you use the new eToro Money app, you can avoid fees for depositing to the platform, potentially saving up to £5 per £1,000.
There are also buy and sell spreads with some types of investment, e.g. cryptocurrency and CFDs.

None of this is to say you shouldn’t invest via eToro. Their offering is still extremely competitive, but you do need to take these charges into account.

Information and Advice

eToro is obviously aimed at people who are comfortable choosing their own investments.

As mentioned above, they have a range of ready-made, themed portfolios you can choose from. The minimum investment with these is $500 (around £420).

They also have plenty of educational resources about investing. Users can also learn from one another through the eToro newsfeed and other social features.

There is also in-depth information (and charts) about specific shares and other investments. One-to-one personal advice (free or paid-for) is not on offer, though.

Copy Trading

As mentioned above, copy trading is a very popular feature of eToro. This allows you to automatically copy the trades of an established eToro investor. An example is shown below…

As with smart portfolios, there is a minimum investment of $200 (about £170) for copy trading on eToro. However, many approved traders recommend a higher minimum than this. That’s because when you sign up to copy a trader, eToro automatically duplicates all of that person’s trades in proportion to the size of your investment. eToro has a minimum investment size of $1 and if a trade would work out less than that pro rata it will not be executed. It follows that traders whose strategies typically involve placing large numbers of relatively small trades generally recommend a higher minimum starting investment.

All approved traders who allow copying have a homepage on which they specify their recommended minimum investment. This can be anything from $200 to $1500 or more, depending on the strategy they use.

What Are the Pros and Cons of eToro?

Pros

Established platform with a large, international client base
Well-designed, user-friendly website and app
No dealing fees when buying or selling shares
No monthly or yearly portfolio fees
No deposit fees
Access to US and other world markets
Cryptocurrency trading and CFDs also available
Low minimum investment (just $10 or around £8)
Social trading features, including easy copying of top traders
Range of ready-made portfolios available
Plenty of research tools and information
Stop Loss and Take Profit features
Free $100,000 ‘virtual account’ lets you practise without risking any real money
Covered against collapse by the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

Cons

No UK tax-free accounts such as SIPPs and ISAs
Can’t invest in UK investment trusts and similar pooled investments
Trading on the platform is in US dollars only and currency conversion fees may apply (though not if you use the new eToro Money app)
Withdrawal fees and inactivity fees are also charged

What Do Users Think?

On the independent TrustPilot website, eToro has an average rating of 4.2 (‘Great’) at the time of writing, with 55% of users awarding them a maximum five stars rating.

Positive comments typically emphasize the simplicity and user-friendliness of the website, the low charges, the quality of the customer service, and the range of information available. The social trading aspects are also highly praised. Some of the negative comments concern customer service, and in particular issues experienced when trading Russian stocks due to sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine. To be fair I am not sure to what extent eToro can be blamed for this.

eToro has also received various industry awards. These include:

ADVFN International Financial Awards Best Social Trading Platform 2019 Winner
ADVFN International Financial Awards Best Platform for Trading Cryptocurrencies 2019 Winner
Ultimate Fintech Awards 2021 – Best Stockbroker
Ultimate Fintech Awards 2021 – Best Copy Trading Platform
Ultimate Fintech Awards 2021 – Best Multi-Asset Trading Platform
World Finance foreign exchange award for best mobile trading platform and best software provider 2011 Winner
Star Awards Best Trading Platform 2013

Closing Thoughts

The commission-free share trading at eToro makes it an attractive option for people who wish to buy and sell shares regularly. Yes, they do have some other charges, but even so for regular traders it represents a great-value proposition.

The inability to open a tax-free ISA or SIPP is obviously disappointing for long-term investors, for whom a UK-based platform such as Bestinvest or Hargreaves Lansdown might be a better option. Nonetheless, eToro does offer a good range of medium- to long-term investment opportunities as well, including copy trading and Smart Portfolios.

It should also be said that profits made buying and selling shares and other assets such as cryptocurrencies are generally taxed in the UK as capital gains. Everyone has a substantial annual CGT allowance (£12,300 in 2022/23). So in practice the majority of UK residents who trade currently on eToro are unlikely to generate a tax liability. But with tax-free CGT allowances due to be substantially cut over the next couple of years, it may become more of an issue.

Smart Portfolios are an attractive option for novice investors and those who don’t have time to research all their investments themselves. As a prediabetic myself, I was quite tempted by their Diabetes Medicines portfolio, which I mentioned above. But equally, if you are happy to pick your own stocks and shares (and other asset types), eToro has all the information and tools you will need.

The social trading features of eToro are clearly a major attraction of the platform, particularly copy trading. But in addition you can chat with fellow investors and pick up tips and advice from them (though don’t take everything you read as gospel!). I also like the Stop Loss and Take Profit features, which allow you to automatically close losing positions before they deteriorate further or take a profit any time a pre-set target is achieved.

If you want to trade cryptocurrencies, eToro offers a simple, straightforward method for doing so. The risk of a platform collapse (as has happened with some crypto exchanges) is probably less, and UK investors also have protection in the form of the FSCS. The buy/sell spreads on eToro mean it may not be the most economical method for crypto trading, though. As I don’t personally touch cryptocurrencies due to the risks involved, I don’t intend to say any more than that. But the option is there if you want it (and many do!).

As for me, I recently started my journey on eToro by investing $500 on copy trading a member called Aukie2008 (real name Mike Moest). He has a good track record, over 1000 people copy him already, and he promises a relatively low-risk strategy. I was tempted to copy Nezatron (see screen capture above) but she has a higher minimum recommended investment of $700 and I wanted to start cautiously. I will let you know in future updates how my investment fares and any other investments I may make on the platform.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below. I should also be very interested to hear from anyone else who has tried eToro. What markets are you investing in, and what results have you obtained? Are there any particular drawbacks or good points to the platform you would like to highlight? All comments are welcome!

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in this blog post should be construed as personal financial advice. Everyone should do their own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Note also that this post includes affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

April 7, 2022

Spotlight: The Bestinvest Investment Platform

Nick Investing reviews 4 Comments

Today I’m looking at Bestinvest, an investment platform I have used myself for many years. My SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension) is held with them.

Bestinvest was founded in 1986, so it is one of the UK’s longest established platforms. In 2014 they merged with Tilney, and the company rebranded as Tilney Group in 2017.

Bestinvest has around £2.7 billion in assets under management (AUM). This puts it in the mid-size category, some way behind the UK’s three biggest investment platforms, Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell YouInvest and Interactive Investor.

Of course, size isn’t everything. As a well-established platform with competitive fees and a reputation for high-quality customer service, Bestinvest has plenty to offer discerning investors.

What Does Bestinvest Offer?

Bestinvest offers four main types of account. These are:

General Investment Accounts can be used for investments outside your tax-free allowance (e.g. the £20,000 annual ISA allowance). You can also use this account for day-to-day share trading. But be aware that any income or capital gains generated within this account (above your personal allowance) may be liable for income tax, dividend tax and/or capital gains tax.

Within their accounts, investors can select from a wide range of funds and individual company shares. You can choose from over 2,500 funds, UK shares, ETFs, and investment trusts. There is no access to US shares, though. So if that is something you might require, another platform such as Hargreaves Lansdown or eToro might be a better choice for you.

As someone asked me this, I should maybe clarify that while you can’t buy US shares directly on Bestinvest, you can of course buy funds investing in the US market if you wish. Personally I have some of my SIPP money invested in the HSBC American Index C fund.

What Are The Charges?

Bestinvest recently revamped and in many cases reduced their charges. They are now highly competitive in many areas.

For most accounts there is a tiered platform fee. This begins at 0.4% for the first £250,000, 0.2% for the next £250,000, 0.1% for £500,000 to £1,000,000, and zero over that.

Bestinvest do, however, offer a range of ready-made portfolios, where the fee for the first £250,000 is just 0.2%. This is half the standard rate (and makes them extremely competitive with other platforms). For more information about fees and charges, see the Bestinvest website.

Buying and selling funds on Bestinvest is free (though you will of course still have to pay fund charges). Bestinvest recently slashed their share dealing charge to £4.95 per deal.

Information and Advice

Bestinvest is aimed at people who are comfortable choosing their own investments. They do, though, offer plenty of information and advice for investors, much of it for free.

As mentioned above, they have a range of ready-made portfolios you can choose from. Bestinvest charge half their normal fee for these (0.2% rather than 0.4% for the first £250,000). They comprise a carefully selected collection of investments, so you don’t have to spend time choosing yourself. They have two fund ranges, Expert and Smart. Each has different investment portfolios, from defensive to maximum growth and everything in between. If your focus is sustainability or income, they have funds for those as well.

But if you prefer to choose your own investments, Bestinvest have tools and articles to assist with this too. Their investment search tool lets you search according to a wide range of criteria. You can then access in-depth information on any potential investments that look appealing.

Advice from registered financial advisers is also available via the Bestinvest platform. If you plan to invest over £20,000 in ready-made portfolios, personalized advice about choosing the best option/s for you is available for free. You can also get free ‘coaching’ calls, and more in-depth personal financial advice, for which there is a charge. Again, see the Bestinvest website for more information.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Bestinvest?

PROS

Well-established platform with a large client base
Range of accounts to meet most needs
Well-designed, user-friendly website
No dealing fees when buying or selling funds
Reasonable fees (£4.95) when buying shares
Low minimum investment (just £50 in most cases)
Highly rated UK-based customer service
Information, advice and ready-made portfolios available
Ready-made portfolios are exceptionally good value
User-friendly investment research tools
Bestinvest pay up to £500 towards any exit fees your current providers charge when you transfer your investments to them

CONS

No access to US shares
No mobile app currently
Some users have had issues with the website (though see below)

What Do Users Think?

On the independent TrustPilot website, Bestinvest has an average rating of 3.8 (‘Great’) at the time of writing, with 38% of users awarding them a maximum five stars rating. That is roughly on a par with other leading UK investment platforms.

Positive comments typically emphasize the high-quality customer service and range of advice and information available. Some of the negative comments concern issues with the website, though it is worth noting that this has just been revamped.

Bestinvest has also received various industry awards, including Best Customer Service at the 2021 Shares Awards run by Shares Magazine, and Best ISA Provider in the 2020 COLWMA Awards. You can see a full list of their recent industry awards here.

Closing Thoughts

If you are planning to start investing (or switch from your current platform) Bestinvest is certainly worthy of your consideration. It is a popular, well-established platform with a good range of accounts and services. Their charges are competitive, and (as I can testify from my many years as a client) their UK-based customer service is first rate.

The Bestinvest SIPP is widely considered their flagship product, and as I have one of these myself (now in drawdown) I wouldn’t argue with that. There are no set-up fees, no fund-dealing charges and they pay up to £500 towards your exit fees if transferring from another provider. The Bestinvest SIPP has recently become even more competitive with the scrapping of the £100 (plus VAT) administration fee and certain other charges. Note that there is still a minimum charge of £120 per annum, though.

Bestinvest’s ready-made portfolios are an attractive (and great value) option for novice investors and those who don’t have time to research all their investments themselves. But equally, if you are happy to pick your own funds and shares, Bestinvest has all the information and tools you will need.

While Bestinvest’s share-trading fees are relatively low, if you’re planning to buy and sell individual shares regularly, a low-cost dealing service such as eToro might be better for you. They offer commission-free trading on shares and charge no monthly account fee. That makes them ideal for short-term traders and investors looking to build a portfolio of shares cheaply. Of course, this is a riskier approach to investing, and not recommended for those new to the field.

As ever, if you have any comments or questions about this blog post or Bestinvest in particular, please do leave them below.

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March 2, 2022

My Investments Update – March 2022

Nick Investing events, reviews, property 6 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my February 2022 Investments Update here if you like

I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA, as I know many of you like to hear what is happening with this.

As the screenshot below shows, my main portfolio is currently valued at £20,859. Last month it stood at £20,870, so that is a modest fall of £11.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £3,166 compared with £2,682 last month. However, that includes an extra £500 I deposited in February. If you deduct this from the current value that gives a figure of £2,666, a net fall of £16.

Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last month.

Obviously a big factor affecting equity prices this month has been the situation in Ukraine. The orange dot on both charts above shows the date when Russia invaded.

The war in Ukraine is above all a human tragedy, but inevitably it has serious implications for investors as well. So far, as you can see from the charts, the invasion hasn’t had a major impact on my Nutmeg investments (there was actually a bigger fall the previous month, due partly to tensions in Ukraine but also to economic factors like rising inflation). But obviously, if things go badly in the coming weeks, there could be bigger losses to come.

Even so, I intend to stay calm and avoid any panic reaction. I certainly don’t intend to crystallize my losses since the start of 2022 by selling up. I have already topped up my investment once while asset values are depressed and intend to do so again before this year’s ISA allowance ends in April.

As I have said before on PAS, all equity investments should be regarded as medium to long term. And it is worth noting that since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016 I have still enjoyed a total return on my main portfolio of 45.72% (or 64.72% time-weighted). I should also mention that I selected quite a high risk level for both my Nutmeg accounts (9/10 for the main one and 5/5 for Smart Alpha). This has served me well generally, but I’m sure investors who selected lower risk levels will have seen smaller falls over the last couple of months.

If you also have a Nutmeg portfolio and plan to withdraw from it in the next few months, there is certainly a good case for switching to a lower risk level right now.

You can read my full Nutmeg review here (including a special offer at the end for PAS readers). If you are still looking for a home for your 2021/22 ISA allowance, based on my experience over the last six years, they are certainly worth considering.

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out also my blog post in which I looked at the performance of Nutmeg fully managed portfolios at every risk level from 1 to 10 (as mentioned, my main port is level 9). I was actually pretty amazed by the difference the risk level you choose makes. If you are investing for the long term (and you almost certainly should be) opting for a hyper-cautious low-risk strategy may not be the smartest thing to do.

As regular readers will know, this year I am using Assetz Exchange for my IFISA. This is a P2P property investment platform that focuses on lower-risk properties (e.g. sheltered housing on long leases). I put an initial £100 into this in mid-February 2021 and another £400 in April. Everything went well, so in June 2021 I added another £500, bringing my total investment on the platform up to £1,000.

Since I opened my account, my Assetz Exchange portfolio has generated £44.26 in revenue from rental and £74.68 in capital growth, a total of £118.94. That’s a decent rate of return on my £1,000 investment and does illustrate the value of P2P property investment for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile.

I won’t bother publishing a statement on this occasion as it’s not hugely different from last time. The bottom line is that I (still) have investments in 21 different projects with them and all are performing as expected, generating income and – in every case now – showing a profit on capital. So I am very happy with how this investment has been doing.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

As mentioned, my investment on Assetz Exchange is in the form of an IFISA so there won’t be any tax to pay on profits, dividends or capital gains. I’ve been impressed by my experiences with Assetz Exchange and the returns generated so far, and intend to continue investing with them. You can read my full review of Assetz Exchange here. You can also sign up for an account on Assetz Exchange directly via this link [affiliate].

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They have been doing well recently, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have over £2,100 invested with them, quite a large proportion of which comes from reinvested profits. To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question. At present all my Kuflink loans are performing to schedule.

Another of my Kuflink investments reached maturity in the last few weeks and I reinvested the capital released. You can see a screen capture of the new project below, a loan to convert some waste ground in the Stevenage district into a car park. It was a different sort of project from those I have previously invested in, but the case set out on the website seemed convincing.

My loans with Kuflink pay annual interest rates of 6 to 7.5 percent. As mentioned above, these days I invest no more than around £150 per loan (and often less). That is not because of any issues with Kuflink but more to do with losses of larger amounts on other P2P property platforms in the past. My days of putting four-figure sums into any single property investment are behind me now!

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

You can read my full Kuflink review here. They offer a variety of investment options, including a tax-free IFISA paying up to 7% interest per year with built-in automatic diversification. Alternatively you can now build your own IFISA, with most loans on the platform (including the one shown above) being IFISA-eligible.

I’d also particularly draw your attention to Kuflink’s revised and more generous cashback offer for new investors [affiliate link]. They are now paying cashback on new investments from as little as £500 (it used to be £1,000). And if you are looking to invest larger amounts, you can earn up to a maximum of £4,000 in cashback. That is one of the best cashback offers I have seen anywhere (though admittedly you will need to invest £100,000 or more to receive that!).

I also recently published a blog post about another P2P property investment platform called BLEND. Like Kuflink, they offer the opportunity to invest in secured loans to experienced property developers. They offer (on average) somewhat higher rates of return than Kuflink, though arguably with a little more risk. As well as my blog post about BLEND, you can also check out what they have to offer on their website [affiliate link].

Moving on, I have another article on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. This is quite a personal one in which I set out my views about the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. For various reasons set out in the article I am not a fan of this. You can read my article here 🙂

I also recommend reading the article on Mouthy Money by my blogging colleague Finance Dee titled Panicked About the Stock Market? Why It Pays to Keep Calm and Carry On. Dee’s views very much reflect my own on this subject.

That’s more than enough for now, so I’ll sign off till next time. I hope you are keeping safe and well, and (if you live in England especially) are enjoying the more relaxed Covid restrictions that now apply. Here’s looking forward to a more normal spring and summer than the last two years. If you’re planning any UK short breaks, don’t forget I have a list of places I have visited and recommend here 🙂

Note also that this post includes affiliate links (disclosed). If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the product or service you receive or the terms you are offered.

If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:

February 3, 2022

Spotlight: Hargreaves Lansdown Investment Platform

Nick Investing reviews 6 Comments

Today I’m looking at Hargreaves Lansdown, an investment platform I have used on various occasions myself over the last few years.

HL describes itself as ‘the UK’s number 1 investment platform for private investors’ and it’s hard to argue with that. It is officially the largest stockbroker in the UK and listed on the FTSE 100.

At the start of 2022 the company had a staggering £135.5 billion of assets under administration (AUA) – considerably more than their two biggest rivals in the UK, AJ Bell YouInvest and Interactive Investor.

What Does HL Offer?

As you might expect for such a large company, Hargreaves Lansdown offers a wide range of accounts. These include:

Stocks and Shares ISA
Junior ISA
Lifetime ISA
SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension)
Fund and Share account
Active Savings account
Cash ISA

Within their investment accounts, clients can select from a huge range of funds and individual company shares. HL have over 500 funds listed, including OEICs and unit trusts. You can also invest in thousands of individual company shares on the UK, US, European and Canadian markets.

What Are The Charges?

HL charges an annual platform fee of 0.45% for shares, ETFs and investment trusts.

For funds, the fee begins at 0.45% for the first £250,000, 0.25% for the next £750,000, and 0.1% for the next £1,000,000. There are no additional charges for any fund holdings over £2,000,000.

There are caps on maximum charges for different account types, e.g. a maximum £45 annual management charge on shares in a Stocks and Shares ISA. For more information about fees and charges, see the HL website.

Share dealing charges start at £11.95 per deal but reduce to as little as £5.95 based on the number of deals you made in the month before. This is set out in the table below.

Note that there is an added foreign exchange charge for overseas share deals, depending on deal size

Information and Advice

As well as dealing and portfolio management, Hargreaves Lansdown also offer investment information and advice.

For starters they have The Wealth Shortlist, a list of recommended funds researched and chosen by HL for their long-term potential. This can help investors narrow down their choice of funds from the vast number available on the platform.

HL also offer a service called Portfolio+. This is aimed at people who want to invest but prefer to leave the choice and management of investments to HL’s experts. You simply choose one of six ready-made portfolios that invest in a broad mix of assets across a range of countries and regions, giving lots of diversification (something regular readers will know I’m a big fan of).

Portfolio+ offers simplicity, performance potential and a low minimum investment of £1,000. Portfolios can be sold at any time free of charge (though of course they should only be bought as long-term investments). Once invested, portfolios are automatically rebalanced twice a year. No additional charges are levied for managing your portfolio. Not surprisingly, Portfolio+ is a popular choice among HL investors.

Personalized advice from professional financial advisers is also available via the HL platform. There is (of course) a charge for this, but the initial consultation is free. Again, see the HL website for more information.

For those brand new to investing, a very useful resource is HL’s Investing – As Easy As 1, 2, 3 page. This takes you through the basics of why, when and how to invest.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Hargreaves Lansdown?

Pros

Large, well-established platform with huge (over 1.5 million) client base
Wide range of accounts to meet all needs
Well-designed, user-friendly website
Mobile app also available
No dealing fees when buying or selling funds
Highly rated UK-based customer service team
Information, advice and ready-made portfolios available

Cons

Share dealing fees of up to £11.95 per deal are above average
Management charges for larger (over £50,000) portfolios are less competitive

What Do Users Think?

On the popular independent TrustPilot website, HL has an average rating of 4.2 (‘Great’) at the time of writing, with 55% of users awarding them a maximum five stars rating. That is on a par with the other leading UK investment platforms.

Positive comments emphasize the high-quality customer service, the well-designed website, and the range of investment products available. There are fewer negative comments, but some of these concern HL’s above-average charges for some services. There are also a few complaints regarding technical issues with the website.

Hargreaves Lansdown has also received various industry awards, including ‘Best Share Dealing Platform 2021’ (UK Investor Magazine) and ‘Best Digital ISA’ (Boring Money 2021 Best Buys).

Closing Thoughts

If you are planning to start investing (or switch from your current platform) Hargreaves Lansdown undoubtedly has a lot going for it. It’s a popular, well-established platform with a wide range of accounts and services on offer. Their charges are generally competitive, and (as I can testify myself) the UK-based customer service is first rate.

Their Portfolio+ service is an attractive option for novice investors – but equally, if you are happy to pick your own shares and funds, HL has all the info and tools you need.

If you are planning to regularly buy and sell individual shares, Hargreaves Lansdown is on the pricey side. In that case a low-cost share-dealing service such as eToro might be better for you. They offer commission-free trading on shares and charge no monthly account fee. That makes them ideal for short-term traders and investors looking to build a portfolio of shares cheaply. Of course, this is a much riskier approach to investing, and not recommended for those new to the field.

As ever, if you have any comments or questions about this blog post, please do leave them below.

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February 1, 2022

My Investments Update – February 2022

Nick Investing events, reviews, property, crowdfunding 2 Comments

Here is my latest monthly update about my investments. You can read my January 2022 Investments Update here if you like

I’ll begin as usual with my Nutmeg Stocks and Shares ISA, as I know many of you like to hear what is happening with this.

As the screenshot below shows, my main portfolio is currently valued at £20,870. Last month it stood at £22,275, so that is a fall of £1,405.

Apart from my main portfolio, I also have a second, smaller pot using Nutmeg’s Smart Alpha option. This is now worth £2,682 compared with £2,837 last month, a net fall of £155. Here is a screen capture showing performance over the last year.

There is no denying 2022 has got off to a disappointing start as far as these investments are concerned. Overall, they take the value of my portfolio back to where it was at the end of June 2021.

It is though worth noting that since I started investing with Nutmeg in 2016 I have still enjoyed a total return on my main portfolio of 45.8% (or 64.81% time-weighted). I should also mention that I have selected quite a high risk level for both my Nutmeg accounts (9/10 for the main one and 5/5 for Smart Alpha). This has served me well generally, but I’m sure investors who selected lower risk levels will have seen smaller falls this month.

Of course, it’s not just Nutmeg investors who have had a bad month. Equities generally have taken a tumble in the last few weeks. Commentators have varying opinions about this, but two reasons are typically mentioned: (1) the rising tensions (and threat of war) in Ukraine; and (2) rising inflation rates allied with the removal of monetary stimulus measures as we come out of the pandemic. Obviously nobody knows for sure which way things will go, but this recent post from the Nutmeg blog sets out some grounds for cautious optimism over the year ahead.

Personally I intend to take advantage of the current dip by topping up my Nutmeg investment while asset values are depressed. I plan to add to my Smart Alpha holding, as overall this has been doing slightly better than my main portfolio. I’m also conscious that the end of the 2021/22 tax year will soon be upon us. That means the end of the current year’s ISA allowance, so it really is a case of use it or lose it!

The above is just my view, of course, and should not be construed as personal financial advice for anyone else to follow.

Since I opened my account, my Assetz Exchange portfolio has generated £37.18 in revenue from rental and £91.19 in capital growth, for a total return of £128.37. That’s an increase of £35.99 on last month alone, and does I guess illustrate the potential value of P2P property investment for diversifying your portfolio when equity markets are volatile.

I won’t bother publishing a statement on this occasion as it’s not massively different from last time. The bottom line is that I (still) have investments in 21 different projects with them and all are performing as expected, generating income and – in every case now – showing a profit on capital. So I am very happy with how this investment has been doing.

To control risk with all my property crowdfunding investments nowadays, I invest relatively modest amounts in individual projects. This is a particular attraction of AE as far as i am concerned. You can actually invest from as little as 80p per property if you really want to proceed cautiously.

Another property platform I have investments with is Kuflink. They have been doing well recently, with new projects launching almost every day. I currently have just over £2,000 invested with them, quite a large proportion of which comes from reinvested profits. To date I have never lost any money with Kuflink, though some loan terms have been extended once or twice. On the plus side, when this happens additional interest is paid for the period in question.

Several of my Kuflink investments reached maturity in the last few weeks and I reinvested the capital released. Here is one of the new projects I invested in, a loan to convert a disused medical centre in Five Ways, Birmingham into residential accommodation. It looked a solid investment, and I also liked the fact that it was redeveloping a derelict building in Birmingham, a city where I lived for around twenty years.

Nowadays I mainly opt to reinvest the monthly repayments I receive from Kuflink, which has the effect of boosting the percentage rate of return on the projects in question

I also recently published a blog post about another P2P property investment platform called BLEND. Like Kuflink, they offer the opportunity to invest in secured loans to experienced property developers. They offer (on average) somewhat higher rates of return than Kuflink, though arguably with a little more risk. As well as my blog post about BLEND, you can also check out what they have to offer on their website [affiliate link].

Next up, I wanted to give another plug for an excellent low-key sideline-earning opportunity I have mentioned previously on Pounds and Sense. This opportunity is based on matched betting, a sideline I have pursued for several years myself. Several PAS readers (including my sister Annie!) have signed up for this and are now enjoying a tax-free, hassle-free sideline income from it 🙂

I have been asked not to divulge too many details about this publicly, for good reasons I will explain privately to anyone who may be interested (and no, it’s not illegal!). It doesn’t require any financial outlay and is risk-free and entirely hands-off (once you have set up your account). No knowledge of betting is required and you don’t have to place any bets yourself (this is all done by the company’s clever software). You just have to set up a separate bank account for bets to go through, but running the account is entirely financed by the company.

The company has changed its terms somewhat for new members. You now get a larger £100 initial reward payment once your account is up and running, and then £25 every month you remain a member. I think this is a good move personally, as setting up the account does involve a little work on your part (though it’s certainly not like going down the mines). So the £100 in effect compensates you for your time, and once it’s done you continue to get £25 a month for no effort at all.

The company is constantly developing its offering, partly in response to feedback from PAS readers. They recently launched a new mobile-friendly website to make it even easier for new members to sign up (once you’re up and running you shouldn’t need to use the website at all). They also recently incorporated an Open Banking app so that members don’t have to provide their online banking info to the company, as some people were concerned about this.

Please note that this opportunity is only open to honest, trustworthy people who haven’t done matched betting before and have no more than two accounts already with online bookmakers. For more information (and to receive a no-obligation invitation) drop me a line including your email address via my Contact Me page. And yes, I will receive a reward for introducing you, but this will not affect the service or the rewards you receive.

In the interests of full transparency, I should say that if you do matched betting yourself, you may be able to make more money than that being offered by the company. However, you will have to research the techniques in detail, place all bets yourself, and probably subscribe to a matched betting advisory service such as Profit Accumulator [affiliate link]. This opportunity is really for those who want an easy way to make some extra money without the hassle (or expense) of learning/applying matched-betting methods themselves.

Moving on, I have another article on the always-excellent Mouthy Money website. Coincidentally, this is about my experiences with P2P property investment over the last few years, both good and not-so-good. Do check it out! 🙂

I was also quoted by Jackie Annett of the Express newspaper in this article about working after retirement. It’s a short but interesting read, especially if you’re coming up to retirement (or already there) yourself.

That’s more than enough for now, so I’ll sign off till next time. I hope you are keeping safe and well, and (if you live in England especially) are enjoying the more relaxed Covid restrictions that now apply. Here’s hoping that normal life across the whole of the UK will be able to resume very soon!

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January 21, 2022

Kuflink: My Review of this P2P Property Investment Platform

Nick Making Money, Saving Money, Investing reviews, property, crowdfunding 11 Comments

Today I am looking at P2P property investment platform Kuflink.

I have been investing with Kuflink for five years now, so this is a fully updated repost of my original review.

What is Kuflink?

Kuflink is an online platform offering opportunities to invest in loans secured against property. These loans are typically made to developers who require short- to medium-term bridging finance, e.g. to complete a major property renovation project, before refinancing with a commercial mortgage.

Kuflink offer three types of investment, as follows:

Select-Invest (individual loans)
Auto-Invest
Tax-free IFISA (Innovative Finance ISA)

Auto Invest and IFISAs both automatically invest your money across a number of loans and pay a fixed interest rate, typically between 7 and 9%. You can choose a 1-year, 2-year or 3-year term, and interest is paid annually (it is automatically reinvested at the end of each year with the two-year and three-year products). The Auto-Invest product is basically the same as the IFISA, but without the tax-free wrapper.

At one time only the Auto-Invest option was available for IFISAs, but nowadays you can choose your own investments if you prefer. The great majority of Self-Select loans on the Kuflink platform are IFISA-eligible. If you check out the Self-Select listings on the Kuflink website (see image below), this will tell you whether any particular loan is IFISA-eligible or not.

Individual Select-Invest loans pay interest rates varying between about 6 and 7.2%, depending largely on the LTV of the loan (loan to value, a measure of how secure the loan would be in the event of a default). The higher the LTV, the riskier the loan, and – other things being equal – the higher the interest rate paid in consequence. You can see a screen capture below of three Select-Invest loans available on the platform at the time of writing.

As a reasonably experienced P2P investor, I put my money into Select-Invest loans. These typically have a duration of six months to a year and (as mentioned above) pay interest from around 6 to 7.20 percent. That obviously isn’t as much as some P2P property platforms (e.g. BLEND), but I think it represents a fair balance between risk and reward. Kuflink also invest in every loan themselves up to 5% of the value of each loan – so, as the expression goes, they have skin in the game.

My Kuflink Review

I found signing up with Kuflink a quick and easy process. They do the obligatory money-laundering checks, but in my case anyway this was all done electronically behind the scenes. I uploaded a copy of my passport and was approved almost immediately. I started by depositing £500, but you can start with as little as £100 if you like.

Initially I put my money into a 12-month loan paying 7% annual interest. One good feature I didn’t grasp initially is that with Select-Invest loans interest is paid monthly. So once a month I receive interest payments on all the loans I am currently invested in. This is paid into a wallet, from which you can either withdraw to your bank account or reinvest.

Kuflink recently introduced an option to have monthly loan repayments automatically reinvested rather than paid into your account as cash. This effectively boosts your interest rate by the power of compounding, as you then receive interest on the reinvested payments as well. Currently this option is available for most, but not all, loans on the platform. You can see which of your loans compounding is available for via your Kuflink dashboard.

I have continued to invest in Kuflink, and have also reinvested in new loans when the original ones were paid off. Another good feature is that money invested in a loan but not yet released to the borrower attracts interest which is paid as cashback once the loan has gone live.

There have been no defaults so far on any of my loans, and Kuflink say on their website that to date nobody has lost a penny on their platform. I have experienced short delays with loans being repaid, but in such cases you continue to earn interest, of course.

Secondary Market

A new feature on Kuflink I like is the Marketplace (secondary market). Here you can buy loan parts from other investors who want to sell up early. You can also put up for sale any (or all) of your own loan parts.

The number of loan parts listed in the Marketplace went up in the early months of the pandemic, as many investors understandably wanted (or needed) to access their cash. This created short-term buying opportunities which I was happy to take advantage of. Loan parts offered via the Marketplace typically have only a few months to run, so you can expect to get your capital back quickly (and can then reinvest it if you wish). Only loans in good standing with monthly repayments up to date may be listed on the Marketplace, so that offers some reassurance against default – though of course it is by no means a guarantee.

In recent months the number of loan parts listed on the Marketplace has reduced considerably. And those that are tend to be snapped up quickly. As a would-be investor this is slightly disappointing, but it does indicate that people are keen to take advantage of the opportunities on offer. It also means that if you want (or need) to exit a loan early, accessing your money should be a quick and easy process.

Pros and Cons

Based on my experiences, here is my list of pros and cons for the Kuflink investment platform.

Pros

1. Easy sign-up process.

2. Low minimum investment.

3. All loans secured against property.

4. Choice of investments and approaches.

5. Manual and auto-invest options.

6. Kuflink invest in all loans themselves, so they have a strong incentive to ensure they are safe and secure.

7. They also cover the first 5% of losses on any loan before investors are affected (although this has never happened yet).

8. Money invested but not yet released to the borrower attracts interest which is paid as cashback once the loan has gone live.

9. In-depth information is provided on the website about all loans, so you can see exactly how your money will be used (and by whom).

10. There have been (according to Kuflink) no investor losses to date.

11. Customer service (in my experience anyway) is fast, friendly and helpful.

12. There is a 14-day cooling off period for new investors.

13. Marketplace (secondary market) for buying and selling loan parts.

14. No charges to investors lending on the primary market and only a 0.25% fee if you resell a loan part on the secondary market.

15. On most loans you can opt to reinvest monthly repayments to boost your net interest rate.

16. Tax-free IFISA option available.

Cons

1. Rates paid aren’t the highest in P2P lending.

2. Delays with some loans being repaid (although investors do earn extra interest if this happens).

3. No mobile app [UPDATE FEB 2023 – An app is now available.]

Conclusion

Overall, my experiences with Kuflink so far have been entirely positive and my investments have been generating the promised returns. I started cautiously with them, but have gradually built up the amount I have invested on the platform. Although – like all property P2P platforms – they were adversely affected by the pandemic, they appear to have come through it strongly, with new loans now being added almost daily.

As mentioned above, although Kuflink don’t pay the highest rates in P2P lending, I think the returns on offer are realistic and sustainable. The steady expansion of the platform seems to testify to this, as does the fact that they have received several industry awards. These include Best Alternative Business Funding Provider in the Business Moneyfacts Awards in both 2018 and 2019 and Best Service From an Alternative Funding Provider in 2020.

Kuflink are also highly rated on the independent TrustPilot website, with an average 4.6 out of 5 (‘Excellent’). At the time of writing 82% of reviewers award them the maximum five-star rating, which is among the highest figures I have seen for a financial services platform.

As with all P2P lending, your money does not enjoy the same level of protection as bank and building society accounts, which are covered (up to £85,000) by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Nonetheless, the rates of return on offer are significantly better than those from most financial institutions. And the fact that all loans are secured against bricks and mortar – and Kuflink themselves have cash invested in them – clearly offers some reassurance.

From my experience, Self-Select loans tend to fill up quickly. On the positive side, this shows investors have confidence in Kuflink and want to invest through the platform. On the minus side, it means there are typically no more than two or three new loans open for investment at any time.

Clearly, no-one should put all their spare cash into Kuflink (or any other P2P investment platform). Nonetheless, it is certainly worth considering as part of a diversified portfolio. Not only are the rates of return much higher than those offered by banks and building societies, they are relatively unaffected by ups and downs in the stock market. P2P loans aren’t a way of hedging your equity-based investments directly, but they do help spread the risk.

If you have any comments or questions about this review or Kuflink in general, as always, please do leave them below.

Disclosure: As stated above, I am an investor with Kuflink myself, and if you invest £500 or more via my link above I will receive a bonus for introducing you. Money is at risk. You should always do your own ‘due diligence’ before investing, and seek advice from a qualified financial adviser if in any doubt how best to proceed.

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January 17, 2022

Cuckoo – A New High Speed Broadband Service for Everyone!

Nick Saving Money, Everything Else reviews, sponsored post 4 Comments

Today I’m spotlighting a new UK high-speed broadband service called Cuckoo.

They are aiming to shake up the world of broadband internet with great-value prices, first-rate customer service, and a social conscience too 🙂

Cuckoo currently have three different customer offers based on speed. Briefly they are as follows:

Eggceptional (1 Gb) – £54.99 a month

Really Fast (115 Mb) – £39.99 a month

Fast (80 Mb) – £29.99 a month

You can see more detailed information from the Cuckoo website in the screen capture below.

Signing up is straightforward via the website and takes just a couple of minutes. Your router will then arrive in the post with full instructions for setting it up. If an engineer is needed (usually it isn’t) Cuckoo will arrange a convenient time for them to come. This is summed up in the graphic from the company website below.

As mentioned, Cuckoo is also a company with a social conscience. They take 1% of each bill and use it to help bring the Internet to places where it’s needed most. That includes conflict zones, natural disaster sites and developing communities. Customers get to choose which project they wish to to support under the Cuckoo Compass scheme.

Finally, Cuckoo aims to deliver top-notch customer service from their team of UK-based customer-support ‘Eggsperts’. Cuckoo have an impressive Trustpilot average rating of 4.6 (‘Excellent’), with 76% of people at the time of writing giving them a full five stars.

For much more information, please check out the Cuckoo website. And of course, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please feel free to leave them below as usual.

Disclosure: This sponsored post includes affiliate links. If you click through and end up making a purchase, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the price you pay or the product or service you receive.

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January 6, 2022

Spotlight: The Blend Network P2P Property Investment Platform

Nick Investing reviews, property, crowdfunding 2 Comments

Today I am spotlighting BLEND, a peer-to-peer property platform that lends to established businesses (mostly experienced property developers). BLEND’s loan-based crowdfunding platform was founded by a team of former investment bankers with substantial experience in real estate and finance.

What Does BLEND Offer?

BLEND offers individuals the chance to invest in loans secured against property. They specialize in loans in geographical areas that banks and other lending platforms typically pay less attention to, e.g. Northern Ireland, though they fund projects across the whole of the UK. Loans are typically for small developments or building renovation/conversion projects. Some examples are shown in the screen capture below.

As mentioned above, all loans are secured against property. The LTV (loan-to-value ratio) is usually quite low, giving greater security for investors. Interest rates on offer range from 7 to 12 percent.

BLEND has some similarities with Kuflink, which I reviewed in this blog post a while ago (and invest in myself). Both offer the opportunity to invest in secured loans. Kuflink typically offers lower interest rates, however, between 5 and 7 percent. The risk level with Kuflink loans is (arguably) lower, but it should be said that BLEND so far has an unblemished record, with no loans in arrears or default.

The minimum investment on BLEND is £1,000, which means it is really aimed at high net worth and professional investors. It’s also worth noting that only a small number of new loans tends to be available at any given time and they typically sell out very quickly.

Using the AutoLend feature is recommended to ensure that you don’t miss out when a new loan comes on to the market.

Secondary Market

One drawback with any type of property investment is that it’s not as liquid as (say) equity-based investments. BLEND does offer a way around this with its secondary market, however.

Lenders who wish to liquidate early can sell their loan parts on the secondary market. Note that finding a buyer on the secondary market may take time and there is always a risk of no-one wanting to buy your loan part. You can start selling a loan in multiples of £1,000 on the secondary market as soon as funds have been released to the borrower.

Unlike the primary market, as a lender you will be charged a secondary market fee of 0.60% (or £6 for every £1,000 of capital) on capital outstanding. BLEND only charge this upon the successful resale of the loan portion you have listed in the secondary market. The secondary market is free for buyers.

Pros and Cons

A full list of Pros and Cons for BLEND is shown below.

Pros

1. Easy sign-up process

2. Well designed, user-friendly website

3. All loans secured against property

4. Low LTV ratios for added security

5. Manual and auto-invest options

6. In-depth info provided on the website about loans, so you can see exactly how your money will be used (and by whom)

7. No investor losses to date

8. Marketplace (secondary market) for buying and selling loan parts

9. No charges to investors lending on the primary market and only a 0.6% fee if you resell a loan part on the secondary market

10. Rates of return of up to 12% are at the upper end for P2P lending

11. Can invest via a SIPP or SSAS (private pension scheme)

Cons

1. Minimum investment of £1,000

2. Limited supply of new loans to invest in

3. No tax-free IFISA option

Final Thoughts

With a minimum investment of £1,000 (per project), BLEND obviously won’t be suitable for everyone. But if you have that sort of money available, the promised returns of up to 12 percent are undoubtedly enticing.

I like the fact that BLEND are very selective in the projects they back, even if that does mean the flow of new opportunities is limited. It’s also good that they perform in-depth ‘due diligence’ on every loan and publish full details about this on the website, including independent valuations. This means investors know exactly what the potential risks and rewards of a project are.

The absence of any charges to investors (apart from on the secondary market) is another big plus. And the presence of a secondary market offers the opportunity to exit loans early if your circumstances change (though, as noted above, you aren’t guaranteed to find a buyer).

BLEND is probably at the riskier end of the P2P property spectrum, but in my opinion the returns on offer fairly reflect this. Risks are also mitigated by generally low LTV ratios and the detailed research mentioned above. The fact that no loan has so far gone into default or even into arrears is impressive, though there is of course no guarantee this couldn’t happen in future. It does offer some reassurance though.

Finally, BLEND has an average Trustpilot rating of 4.6 (‘Excellent’), with 95% of people awarding them a maximum five stars rating. This is among the highest ratings I have seen for an investment platform on Trustpilot.

As always, if you have any questions or comments about this post or P2P property investment more generally, please do leave them below.

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified financial adviser and nothing in the article above should be construed as personal financial advice. You should always do your own ‘due diligence’ before investing and seek professional advice if in any doubt how best to proceed. All investing carries a risk of loss.

Please note also that this post includes affiliate links. If you click through and perform a qualifying transaction, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect in any way the terms you are offered or the product/service you receive.

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